Update: Ofsted slam King's Sutton Primary School

King's Sutton Primary School's board of governors respond to the damning Ofsted report, released yesterday, which found the school 'inadequate in all aspects including governance and the safeguarding of pupils.
King's Sutton Primary SchoolKing's Sutton Primary School
King's Sutton Primary School

In a statement the Board of Trustees said: "The Board of Trustees is very disappointed with the outcome of the inspection, we acknowledge during the course of the inspection serious failings came to light and we are taking swift action to address all the issues."It is clear from the report that there is much work to be done to improve the education for the children at the school; since the inspection in June a great deal of work has already been done. Ahead of and over the summer work to ensure that the school is compliant in all areas of safeguarding has been completed."The Board of Trustees is now confident that collaborative relationships are in place to support the school. "A Rapid Improvement Plan has been drawn up and progress will be overseen by a newly formed Rapid Improvement Group which has replaced the Governing Board.It ends: "We really value the school community and want to ensure that there is open communication and transparency."

At the start of the school year earlier this month, Prime7 Multi-Academy trust who run the school, confirmed that the head teacher had been replaced with Catherine Mattacine-Lee acting as interim head teacher. The trust declined to provide any further information regarding the abrupt personnel change.

The 11 page Ofsted report, pulls no punches and follows an inspection on June 18 and 19.

King's Sutton Primary SchoolKing's Sutton Primary School
King's Sutton Primary School

In all five areas assessed; effectiveness of leadership and management; quality of teaching, learning and assessment; personal development, behaviour and welfare; outcomes for pupils and early years provision, the school was rated as inadequate.

Summing up, the report noted, among other things, that:

• Leaders have not demonstrated the capacity to improve the school. Relationships between the school and the trust have broken down. Governors have not held leaders to account.• In 2018, just under half of Year 6 pupils left the school having not achieved the expected combined standard in reading, writing and mathematics. From their starting points, many pupils do not make the progress they are capable of.• Disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make poor progress.• Teachers follow the national curriculum; however, poor planning and weak teaching mean that pupils do not make good progress.• The arrangements for safeguarding pupils are not effective. Staff do not view safeguarding with enough importance.• The early years provision is inadequate. Too few children achieve a good level of development. Staff do not have high enough expectations of children’s behaviour.

The only two positives as adjudged by the government inspectors were:

• Attendance is consistently above the national average. Parents understand the importance of regular attendance at school.• Teachers’ subject knowledge in mathematics has improved. They have a secure understanding of the school’s year-group expectations.

In order to improve its rating inspectors outlined five key points,the school needed to address, including:

• Urgently address the weaknesses in the school’s safeguarding systems by ensuring that the arrangements for safeguarding and safer recruitment meet statutory requirements – the designated safeguarding leader maintains full and accurate records of safeguarding concerns and staff understand their responsibility to safeguard pupils.• Improve the impact of leadership and governance, by establishing a clear and robust plan for school improvement which focuses on raising standards for pupils – evaluating the impact of funding for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils to ensure that this funding is used effectively to raise standards for these pupils – supporting middle leaders to enable them to bring about improvements to their areas of responsibility and ensuring that pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

To read the full report visit the school's website or click here.